COVID-19: Lagos Spends Between N100,000 & N1M On A Patient Daily – Commissioner

Lagos State Government Thursday said it spends between N100,000 and N1m daily on each of the coronavirus patients in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, stated this at a briefing to provide an update on efforts being taking by the state in managing COVID-19..

Abayomi said for mild and moderate cases, the state government spends averagely about N100,00 daily, while it costs the state government about N500,000 and N1m to treat a patient with a serious or intensive COVID-19 case.

He, however, said it is very difficult to calculate what is cost the state government to treat a COVID-19 but what he provided was a rough estimate. According to him, in arriving at the cost he provided, he factored in the treatment, cost of feeding, accommodation, the services provided by the healthcare givers among others.

The commissioner said the state government discontinued the idea of using Rapid Diagnostic Test kits to test patients because research sponsored by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu failed validation, as it provided inaccurate results.

Abayomi also disclosed that 2036 COVID-19 patients have not been picked from the community in the last two weeks due to preferring home treatment, logistic issues, wrong information provided in their forms and inability to reach such patients because their phones were switched off.

On the advisory by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 that some local governments in Lagos be lockdown due to the high positive Coronavirus recorded in such local councils, the commissioner said because of the impossibility of implementing the lockdown made the state government not to consider it.

He added that unlike other states where there are distinct boundaries, Lagos does not have which would make it impossible to implement because residents would move across local governments without knowing they have.

He disclosed that 60 per cent of the positive COVID-19 cases in Lagos were shared among five local councils of Eti-Osa, Alimosho, Kosofe, Ikeja and Oshodi-Isolo, though Eti-Osa tops.

According to the commissioner, the state government would be increasing the bed capacity of its isolation centres by 220 beds, as a 70-bed space would be commissioned today at Ajao Estate while another 150-bed space would be unveiled next week in Yaba.

He warned residents against patronising laboratories not accredited by the state government to carry out COVID-19 test, maintaining that not all labs can conduct coronavirus tests. He further said that more private labs would be accredited to join the seven already approved. He disclosed that the seven labs have conducted 1538 tests in the last 14 days.

Abayomi stated that the state hopes to reach its peak in rising COVID-19 cases in August, which would then be followed by a flattening of the curve and decrease.

He further said the government would launch its home-based care management in the next few weeks, promising to continue to increase its testing capacity from one to about two to four thousand in the coming days.

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